Proove Biosciences Offers Genetic Testing That Can Help the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Fight against Addiction

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A Patented Technology Platform from Proove Biosciences Can Become an Important Ally in NIDA’s Efforts to Combat Prescription Drug Abuse

With our advanced technology, we are excited to learn of the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s new strategic plan and hope that Proove can be a part of those efforts to combat prescription drug abuse.

Irvine, CA (PRWEB)April 01, 2016

Proove Biosciences, Inc., the commercial and research leader in personalized pain medicine, utilizes technology that can advance the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) strategic plan to combat drug abuse. NIDA is committed to leveraging science to understand the brain mechanisms that are related to addiction. As part of this effort, NIDA’s Division of Neuroscience and Behavior recently announced its strategic direction that focuses on the following goals:

Determining molecular and cellular basis of vulnerability to addiction

Identifying the neural circuits underlying drug addiction

As NIDA continues to make progress in understanding the underlying mechanisms of addiction, Proove Biosciences is able to help NIDA by evaluating genetic data along with other phenotypic variables to identify risk levels among different patients. “We are excited that our patented technology platform is aligned with the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s strategic plan to combat prescription drug abuse,” said Brian Meshkin, CEO of Proove Biosciences. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, overdoses from prescription opioids resulted in 18,893 deaths in 2014. Given the scope of the problem, the epidemic now requires efforts from researchers, legislators, doctors, patients, and private enterprises.

The technology platform at Proove Biosciences plays a critical role addressing prescription drug abuse. By evaluating genetic variations in different genes that are linked to drug addiction—and by feeding large amounts of patient physiological information into complex algorithms—Proove Biosciences is able to predict individual patient risk of opioid addiction. In other words, the algorithms compute genetic data and related factors to assess expected risk to addiction and identify the therapeutic efficacy of opioid treatments for individual patients. As Svetlana Kantorovich, Ph.D, Director of Scientific and Clinical Affairs at Proove Biosciences explains: “By using genetic information, we are able to identify which patients are at the greatest risk of addiction prior to treatment. With technology that is able to assess genetic differences among candidates for opioid treatment, we are able to do our part in providing physicians with rational decision-making tools to help NIDA win the war against prescription drug abuse.”

In a study of 814 subjects presented at the International Conference on Opioids last year, researchers from Proove Biosciences demonstrated a genetic correlation between certain genotypes in the Proove Opioid Risk® genetic profile and risk for opioid misuse through validating the genotypes against the Opioid Risk Tool (ORT). In another study of 162 subjects presented at the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management in 2015, researchers at Proove Biosciences demonstrated that the Proove Opioid Risk genetic profile could predict patients who would have opioid drug dependence with 92.75% positive predictive value (PPV).

The Proove Opioid Risk® genetic profile is a patent-protected system and method to stratify patient risk for opioid drug dependence with a high degree of accuracy. In fact, the Proove Opioid Risk® profile stratifies patients into low, moderate, and high risk categories in which high risk patients are 10 times more likely to develop substance use disorder than low risk patients. For patients at low risk, a physician can cost-effectively utilize opioids in the medication management of pain. For patients at high risk, a physician can avoid opioids and utilize non-opioid analgesics or interventional pain procedures to provide effective pain relief. In 2015, physicians ordered over 31,000 Proove Opioid Risk® genetic profiles to improve clinical outcomes in pain management and reduce incidents of opioid abuse. “With our advanced technology, we are excited to learn of the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s new strategic plan and hope that Proove can be a part of those efforts to combat prescription drug abuse,” concluded Meshkin.

About Proove BiosciencesOur mission is to change the future of medicine. Proove represents the proof to improve healthcare decisions. We seek to realize a future when clinicians look back and wonder how they could have ever prescribed medications without knowing how a patient would respond. Physicians use Proove Biosciences testing to improve outcomes—both safety and efficacy of medical treatment. From a simple cheek swab collected in the office, Proove performs proprietary genetic tests in its CLIA-certified laboratory to identify patients at risk for misuse of prescription pain medications and evaluate their metabolism of medications. For more information, please visit http://www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832).